Hide Settles Into Bolton Life

By Mark Heys
October 1 2005

Hidetoshi Nakata is settling in well at Bolton Wanderers since his loan move from Fiorentina just over a month ago due to the style of play which the Wanderers have adopted in their games.

The 28-year old playmaker has found the physical nature of the Premiership a little hard to bear but he admits that he is adapting more and more to the combativeness as the weeks pass.

"The physical side of the game here is not easy but is something I am getting used to, It's definitely a lot more physical and faster in The Premiership than it is in Italy. The game never stops here and you have to run a lot more.

"But the good thing for me is that we play a simple system at Bolton and that has made it easy to adapt and settle in and is something I'm enjoying. Every player knows what he is doing and it shows because we have started the season so well."

The ex-Roma player was somewhat disappointed to be named amongst the substitutes for last Thursday's UEFA Cup win against Lokomotiv Plovdiv but the Japanese international fully understands that such rotation can help the team win games and prevent fatigue.

"I've played in Europe before so I know how it all works. Of course, I was a little disappointed to be on the bench but everybody knows there are so many matches and that you cannot play in all of them.

"We all understand - I understand - that it's important to rotate to win as many matches as possible."